Hot-water h



(No Model.)

W; 0. HIGGINS. HOT WATER HEATER-AND STEAM GENERATOR. No. 590,063.

Patented Sept. 14,1897.

IN BNTDR THE ucmms Pmqs co, Pnoruuma. wAsHmuvou. n. c.

,Ilnrrnn Sterne \VERTER O. HIGGINS, OF NORIVICII, CONNECTICUT.

HOT-WATER HEATER AND STEAM GENERATOR.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Iatent No. 590,063, datedSeptember 14, 1897. Application filed October 31, 1896. Serial No.610,782. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, WERTEP. O. HIGGINS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Norwich, in the county of New London and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHotater Heaters and Steain- Generators, which iniproveinents are fullyset forth and described in the following specification, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings.

The immediate purpose of this invention is to provide an exceedinglysimple water heater in which the boiler and steain dome (if such a domebe used) may be conveniently and economically cast as a single piece andin which the water is presented to the action of the fire incomparatively thin sheets, being thus quickly influenced by the caloricproducts of the said fire.

The drawings which I have annexed hereto will aid in explaining myinvention. Figure 1 is a central vertical sectional view of theboiler-section of a water-heater of iny improved construction, taken ona line cutting through the feed-door and smoke-flue; and Fig. 2 is asimilar View taken on a vertical line at right angles to that of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of Fig. 1 on line a; x; and Fig. 4. isa central vertical sectional view of the upper portion of such a boilerhaving provision made for a steam-dome, as I shall refer to moreparticularly hereinafter.

In the drawings the letter a denotes a basesection adapted for use asthe ash-pit of my heater, and mounted in said base-section is a grate bof any improved form. This basesection forms no part of my presentinvention.

The letter 0 indicates niyimproved boilersection, the same beingpreferably seated within an annular ring a, cast upon the basesection.Said boiler-section is substantially cylindrical in form and isconstructed with an outer and inner shell, which shells are preferablyconcentric with each other and provide a thin water-chamber thatcompletely surronndsthe fire-pot and extends downward nearly or quite tothe upper level of the grate. The upper portion of the saidboiler-section is drawn inward, as at c, and is provided cen-' trallywith a pipe connection through which in top of the described rear wall.

hot water or steam (as the case may be) can be discharged.

In one side of the cylindrical double shell of the boiler-section is afeed'opening a, whose four walls are integral with the outer and innershells of the boiler, and in the opposite wallof said boiler is anopening 6, that serves as an exit for smoke and other unconsuinedproducts of combustion.

Beginning at a point near the bottom of the smoke-opening e is apartition or rear wall g, that extends inward and upward to a pointwhere it meets and [unites with the inner wall of the donieshaped top o,as is best seen in Fig. 1 of the drawings. This partition 9 is formedwith double walls that are united integrally with the said doine at thetop and with the inner cylindrical shell of the body of the boiler atthe sides and lower portion in such manner that it forms the crown-sheetof the boiler, and an unobstructed thin chamber or waterway g isprovided by it that connects the cylindrical water-chamber around thefire-pot with the dome-chamber of the boiler, thus providing for thefree and natural upward circulation of the heated water through thehottest portions of the fire-pot and coinbustion-chamber.

In order to allow the products of combustion to pass to the exit-openinge, I provide one or more openings 72-, having curved walls As hereillustrated, two such openings are provided and they are preferablylocated above the level of the smoke-opening e and between the upper endof the water-chaniber g, which extends through said partition, and theupper end of the water-chamber, which surrounds the fire-pot, so that asomewhat indirect course is prescribed for said products, as isindicated by the arrows in Fig. 1. These openings h, by reason of theirlocation and the shape of their walls, also serve the most importantfunction of causing the hotter and cooler waters to take such coursesthat they do not cornniingle one with the other in their passage fromand to the bottom, respectively. The intense heat within the fire-potimpinges upon the lower inner wall of thepartition g, the shape of saidwall being such that the heat is guided upward along said wall until theopenings 7L are reached, when it escapes through said openings andfinally passes outward through the smoke-exit 6. Meanwhile the thinsheet of water in the lower part of the rear wall is raised to a hightemperature, and seeking to rise passes upward through the chamber g tothe dome, while the cooler waters at the top pass downward between theouter and inner shells of the body of the boiler, thus inducing aconstant circulation of the water in prescribed directions.

The reference-letters m m, in Fig. 2, denote return-pipes that aretapped into the boiler at or near its lowerend.

\Vhen it is desired to use my invention with steam-boilers, a steam-domen is provided by building up and enlarging the upper portion of thesection 0, as seen in Fig. 4. This change does not, however, in any wayinterfere with the perfect working of my improvement, which consists ofthe novel arrangement and location of the described partition or rearWall.

My invention makes it both possible and practicable to produce portableheaters very cheaply and of such simple construction that they cannotget out of order.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- A boiler, consisting of asubstantially cylindrical body, having a dome and formed with an outerand an inner shell, which shells provide a thin water-chambersurrounding the t1 re-pot,a smoke-exit leading outward through saidshells, a hollow partition or rear wall for the ascending column ofwater, extending up ward and inward within the fire-box from a place insaid inner shell contiguous to the lower end of said smoke-exit andforming the crown-sheet of the boiler, the top of said partition beingformed to provide an opening for the products of combustion, saidopening having a curved wall and being located ben eath the' outer wallof the dome and between the upper end of the water-chamber through saidpartition and the upper end of the waterchamber which surrounds thefire-pot, substantially as described, whereby said curved wall guidesthe descending cooler water directly from the dome to the upper end ofthe chamber which surrounds the fire-pot and prevents said cooler waterfrom commingling with the asoendin g hotter water flowing into the domefrom the upper end of said hollow partition.

WERTER C. HIGGINS.

Witnesses:

ALONZO H. LUTHER, HENRY S. HIGGINS.

